Rhode Island man sentenced to two life sentences in connection with 2004 killing

PROVIDENCE — A Rhode Island man who shot and killed a Johnson & Wales University graduate in 2004 was sentenced to two life sentences on Monday for murder and the discharge of a firearm during the commission...

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By
W. Zachary Malinowski
Posted Jul. 2, 2013 @ 12:01 am

PROVIDENCE — A Rhode Island man who shot and killed a Johnson & Wales University graduate in 2004 was sentenced to two life sentences on Monday for murder and the discharge of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.

Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause also sentenced Ramon Virola, who fled to Arizona and eluded the authorities for seven years, to an additional 20 years in prison as a habitual offender. In March, a jury found Virola guilty of first-degree murder and three other charges in the fatal shooting of Christopher Nelson, 23.

Nelson had been rooming with a marijuana dealer in a small apartment at 94-96 Knight St., on Federal Hill. Testimony at Virola’s trial revealed that he and four other men planned to rob the dealer of what they thought would be as much as $75,000.

Nelson, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., earned a degree in information technology from Johnson & Wales. He worked for a stock brokerage firm in Rhode Island and had been studying to become a broker.

The masked robber, and four of his friends, confronted the dealer on Aug. 16, 2004, at 11:30 p.m. After a brief struggle, Nelson was shot and was left to die. Virola and the four others fled without any money.

Virola did not fire the gun, but he helped obtain the weapon for the robbery.

If a killing takes place in the course of another crime, it’s considered first-degree murder, even if the killing was an accident.

The triggerman, Wayman “Kevin” Turner, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and received a life sentence. The three others involved in the robbery entered pleas and have been sent to prison.

Virola, once called “The Human Fly” for eluding police across several rooftops during a drug raid in Olneyville, left Rhode Island after the shooting and assumed a new identity and life in Arizona. He also fathered a child.

One night, the mother of Virola’s child was watching “America’s Most Wanted,” and recognized her boyfriend on the broadcast. At the time, the relationship was crumbling and she lived in fear of him.

She went to the police, leading to Virola’s arrest and extradition to Rhode Island.